


What We Owe To Each Other

by FoxyClocks



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-03 04:50:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16319501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FoxyClocks/pseuds/FoxyClocks
Summary: In which Marinette tries everything that she can to be reunited with her father.





	What We Owe To Each Other

  
That day started off normal as any other.

Marinette was up and at ‘em at around 06:30 that morning to get the bakery ready for opening. Since she’d graduated two years ago she’d made the commitment to her father that she’d take over the morning shift to let him sleep in since he’d done it in all the years past.

 

Though, convincing her father to let her take over in the morning was more of a struggle than she thought it would have been. Her father always liked to give Marinette an easy life and hated seeing her work harder than she needed to- and her father never really “slept-in”.

 

Nonetheless, without fail, her alarm sounded waking her up.

 

Like usual her routine started in the bathroom. She tied up her hair into a small bun with stray hairs poking out every which way, she brushed her teeth and tossed on a dark pair of jeans and white shirt before tying her apron around her waste letting the front of it fall and fold forward.

 

The dark haired girl swiftly made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen fixing herself a rather large cup of coffee with a small piece of toast.

 

Before heading into the bakery, as usual, she lit one of the incenses near the photo of her mother and wished her a good morning before heading out the door.

 

Marinette has only been given the pleasure of knowing her mother a short while after birth before she passed. Sure, there was times she’d felt left out especially when her school would host Mother’s Day makeovers. But Tom did his best to fill the gap as much as he could and attended every event- father or mother related.

 

Bread hanging from her mouth and coffee mug in hand, Marinette switched on the bakery lights and began opening each window blind waiting for the anticipating sunlight to seep in.

 

Her father, like any in time, gained age but that didn’t stop him from baking with his daughter. This was something he had cherished more than anything. Watching his daughter bake reminded him of his late wife, her stature, her smile as she gently crafted her pastries.

 

Tom walked into the bakery seeing as his daughter was setting up shop for the morning, “Good morning, Little ladybug.” He said with a smile placing her hand a top of her daughter’s head and rubbed her hair around.

 

“Morning, papa.” she said with a smile taking a sip of her coffee and placing it down on the counter as she leaned over. The scent of all the pastries finishing up their rounds in the oven wafted through the air, it was truly one of the simplest pleasures in life but it was one of the things that made Tom and his daughter the most happy. Tom set up the few tables that he had in the lobby as well as opening the blinds and turning on their single open sign. 

 

The sun busted through the windows finding it fairly easy to illuminate the entire bakery without the lights. It was another one of Marinette's favorite things in the mornings. She'd always been one for early mornings. Like her father had often said-

 

"Ah...The most beautiful things you can witness are those that remain calm when the morning's first light gently touches it." He smiled resting his hand on one of the tables and taking a seat. It wasn't long before his daughter joined him with a spare cup of coffee.

 

"You always say that, papa." She said with a smile sipping more of her coffee.

 

"I always say it, because it is always true, is it not?" He smiled back smiling at the quiet Parisian streets; the golden hours where the only trouble you'd see is that of a sneaky tomcat preying on other unsuspecting street cats. 

 

Time seemed to go buy faster when they spent the morning eating together. As soon as 8a.m rolled around they had their first customers, just the few stragglers coming in before the rest of the work rush to grab a cup of coffee and pastries before heading into work.

 

That morning had really gone like any other, busy until it slowed down at around noon. Around that time her father would normally walk to the small flower boxes out front to give them some, as he liked to call it “love”.

 

Tom made his way outside with a fresh pitcher of water slowly pouring it into the soil, careful not to have it over flow.

 

Her eyes blinked slowly as she smiled, seeing the expression of excitement grow upon her father’s face as he plucked a flower from it’s stem holding it up to the window pointing at the small ladybug that rested on it’s petal.

 

Time slowed as she heard him yell through the window, “Little ladybug! I found a ladybu-…” his words stopped, as did his movements.

 

Marinette could sense the air get stiff as she handed the rest of the change to the woman standing with her daughter at the counter. It was almost like she could see his eyes glassed over his mouth hanging open and his grip loosening on the flower, which once stayed steady in his gentle hand with the ladybug still clinging on to the dainty petal. She wanted to call out for him but it was like there was no air left in her lungs for her to speak, her eyes grew fuzzy as they welled with tears of worry, and her heart slammed against her chest as she saw her father, kind, gentle, and strong, fall to the ground in what would come to be a moment of pure horror and regret for Marinette.

 

Everything went black from there on out.

 

It had happened so quickly.

 

One moment, he stood.

 

The next, he fell.

 

The ambulance ride was quick, uneasy, and claustrophobic.

 

Marinette wanted answers, the Doctors had none.

 

The world around her continued to slow until her father’s eyes peaked open, even if it was for only a second, it was made known in that moment that Tom wasn’t planning on giving up. He wasn’t going to leave his daughter alone without her mother or father. Marinette knew in that instance her eyes met his that she wasn’t about to lose her father.

 

A few hours had passed.

 

Marinette’s father was checked into a room, shortly upon arriving to the hospital, but it was still a disturbing site. Still unconscious, hundreds of tubes and wiring coming off from his body hooked up to dozens of machines spread around the hospital room.

 

Marinette sat next to her father just about as long as he’d been in the bed. She refused to let go of his hand for any reason, in her mind it was the only thing that was keeping it warm as the rest of him just felt…

 

Cold.

 

“Miss Dupain-Cheng?” A doctor in a long white smock said upon entering her father’s room, “Can we talk?”

 

 

 


End file.
